The last thing that anybody expects to see on a road is a severed human head. Seeing a head lying on busy Wall Tax road in Chennai on Saturday, locals and passers-by were petrified. While most people froze in panic, one of them plucked up the courage to alert the local police.
Immediately, Elephant Gate inspector S. Ramesh Babu rushed to the spot and retrieved the head. Then unfolded the story behind the severed head – a special sub-inspector (SSI) of police had accidentally dropped the head, belonging to an unidentified accident victim, while taking it to a burial ground.
According to the police, the SSI, attached to Tirumangalam traffic investigation wing, was on his way to Mollakothalam burial ground to lay the head of the male victim to rest around 11.45 am. When the inspector reached Wall Tax road, the cover in which the remains were being transported gave in. Unaware of the head dropping off, the inspector continued to drive on.
After reaching the graveyard, the SSI found the head missing from the plastic bag and retraced his route only to be informed that the local police had recovered the missing head.
Subsequently, the SSI got in touch with the Elephant Gate police and retrieved the remains. It is said the inspector collected the head from the government hospital where it was preserved for the past two months in the mortuary.
“The victim died in an accident that occurred eight months ago near Tirumangalam. Though the body was disposed of two months ago, the head was retained for identification. Since no one turned up to claim the body, we decided to bury it,” said a police official of Tirumangalam traffic investigation wing.
Contrary to the police version, rumours were doing the rounds that the head fell off a moving lorry on Wall Tax road.